On the Ground in LA: Rebuilding After the Fires

A year after Southern California’s devastating wildfires, we are grappling with what went wrong and how the rebuilding process will take place. But the debate over when and how all of California moves forward extends far beyond the communities of Altadena and Pacific Palisades. Rebuild SoCal Partnership sat down with scholar and political thinker Francis Fukuyama, whose recent work has focused on...

Professor Marc Dunkelman is one of many academics who have recently written about our country's difficulty in building the critical infrastructure that we need to compete economically. The United States, Dunkelman notes in his new book, Why Nothing Works – Who Killed Progress and How to Bring It Back, used to pride itself on our world-scale infrastructure projects. "Think about the Golden Gate Bri...

This video follows Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Rebuild SoCal Partnership Executive Director, Jon Switalski as they met in the Palisades to discuss how Horvath responded to the devastating wildfires in her district. Supervisor Horvath has taken a hands-on approach to recovery, removing barriers to reconstruction and ensuring no community is left behind. In this  On the Ground in LA  episode, Hor...

This video follows the work and takes a close-up look at Anvil Builders, a Union Contractor whose workers are cleaning the sites of former homes in Altadena after the devastating wildfires in January. This episode of On the Ground in LA follows the Anvil team as they help families begin the long road to recovery, from removing hazardous materials to carefully sifting through the remnants of homes...

On the Ground in LA: Rebuilding After the Fires is a branded podcast from LA Times Studios paid for and produced by Rebuild SoCal Partnership. How do you rebuild after historic wildfires charge through your community and uproot your life? This raw and powerful mini-series follows the people on the ground who stepped into the smoke to rebuild what was lost. From hazmat cleanup crews tackling toxic...

This episode follows Carpenter's Union member Sergio Lambert as he recounts the night his house burned in the Altadena fire and how he is committed to rebuilding that childhood home with his own hands and the skills he has learned as a member of Local 661. The video was shot at Sergio’s home in Altadena as Sergio, his young son, and his mother, Dollis, walked through the ashes and talked about wha...

Operating Engineers Local 12 member Michael Reilly and his wife, Coleen Sterritt, lost their home during the Altadena fire. Sterritt, a well-known sculptor, lost years of artwork as well. We visit Michael and Coleen at their property that burned down and talk to them about what they lost and how they plan to rebuild. Like many of their neighbors, they were not told to evacuate the night of the fir...

This episode follows the story of Sandra Molina, a single mother of three children who turned her life around through the help of the Laborers Union. She rebuilt her life and is now helping to rebuild Altadena as a Hazmat worker. Sandra enrolled as a Laborers Apprentice and took the Laborers Hazmat training course before being dispatched to a job with Anvil Builders. She works from 6 AM to 6 PM, o...